Most automatic transmissions being used today normally have high fuel consumption because of the weight of the transmission, complicated system and does not meet economical driving conditions. Most manual transmission and automatic transmission are mechanical in nature and a portion of the time the speed and torque of the transmission does not match the speed and torque that is required by a vehicle or by other means. The transmission matches the speed of the vehicle but produces more or less torque that is required by the vehicle therefore there are some energy losses.
Hydraulic hybrid turbo-transmission is hydraulic transmission and is continuously variable transmissions therefore the speed and torque will match the speed and torque is required by the vehicle therefore less energy loss.
Modern automatic transmissions use four or more multiple-disc clutches where the clutch plate has rough frictional material on their faces. When the multiple-disc clutches are not applied the disc will run with engine or with transmission output therefore each disc acts as disc pump and will consume energy and produce heat in the transmission. Modern automatic transmission and manual transmissions use more than eight gears when the gears run with and without engagement with the output shaft or input shaft will act as a pump because of the teeth of the gear therefore they consume energy and produce heat in the transmission. Exemplary examples or hydraulic hybrid turbo transmission units are provided herein.
A hydraulic hybrid turbo transmission is a transmission and has the ability for energy recovery using low pressure storage and a high pressure accumulator to store recovered energy from braking.
The inventor's prior pending application Ser. No. 12/481,159, 12/269,261, PCT/US09/46745 and PCT/US09/4509 provides some initial features and functions that are further refined and elaborated in this application.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,890,600 issued Jun. 16, 1959 to R. L. Smirl et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,812,670 issued Nov. 12, 1957 to M. P. Winther both disclose a single stage hydraulic transmission where a viscous fluid transfers power between two vanes. These two patents disclose the early stages of a torque converter where rotational speed of the motor created connected the engine to the drive wheels. While these transmissions disclose power transmission they are limited to only a single speed with a multi-speed gearbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,543 issued Mar. 9, 1964 to J. Bosch discloses a fluid transmission system. The fluid transmission system uses two opposing turbines separated by a gap. Both the engine speed and the gap distance are variable to provide some additional speed variation between the motor and the driven wheels. While this patent discloses a more variable speed system the transmission has only one gear and is therefore limited in the range of speed control.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,823 issued Jul. 18, 1978 discloses an automatic transmission having a hydrodynamic torque converter between the input shaft and the gear system. The torque converter can be disengaged from the gear system to allow for changing of the gear ratio before re-engaging the torque converter. While this patent uses a hydrodynamic torque converter, gears are still used to change the ratio turning ration of the input to output shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,110 issued Nov. 25, 1986 to Harry H. Levites discloses a fluid powered turbine using multiple turbines. The multiple turbines are configured in a tapers housing where the velocity of the fluid within the housing is increased as the fluid passes though a smaller cross sectional area thereby increasing the rotating speed of each turbine placed further down the tapered housing. While this patent describes the use of multiple turbine blades it operates as a steam turbine to generate power from steam entering the system. The generation of the pressure to turn the turbines is created external to the system as opposed to between turbines.
U.S. Published application 2005/0016167 that was published on Jan. 27, 2005 to Rodney Singh discloses a Hydraulic drive system and improved filter sub-system therefore. This hydraulic drive system uses an accumulator to store pressurized fluid in a tank and the pressurized fluid is later used to drive the vehicle. While this application shows a storage tank the fluid is not pressurized from the braking system and further does not use a second pump to increase the stored pressure. There system requires a transmission, pump and pump/motor as a separate system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,869 issued Mar. 4, 2008 to Charles Gray Jr., discloses a Hydraulic hybrid vehicle with integrated hydraulic drive module and four-wheel-drive, and method of operation thereof. The drive system uses a motor to drive a hydraulic pump that provides hydraulic power to drive the vehicle as a two wheel or four wheel drive vehicle. Accumulator of hydraulic pressure does not pass through a two stage pump to increase the pressure for storage. There system requires a transmission, pump and pump/motor as a separate system
U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,757 issued Aug. 1, 2006 to Chris Terlak discloses a Pump/motor operating mode switching control for hydraulic hybrid vehicle. This patent discloses allowing the hydraulic pump/motor to change between the two modes of operation based upon the vehicle being accelerated or stopping. When the brake pedal is depressed the motor turns into a pump and pressurizes hydraulic fluid into a reservoir and the pressurized fluid is later used to accelerate the vehicle. While this application pressurizes fluid from regenerative braking the system does not provide for a two stage pump and further does not use the motor as a transmission for the drive wheels. There system requires a transmission, pump and pump/motor as a separate system
What is needed is a transmission with multiple turbines that are individually controlled and connected with one-way clutches to the output shaft. The proposed application provides this solution in a simple single unit and there is not a need for the pump and motor for energy recovery from the braking system. The proposed solution is a simple single unit that works either as a pump/motor or a pump plus pumps. Therefore there is not a need for an outside unit such as a pump/motor or a pump.